Eridanian
Eridanian, ɛɹɪdænɪjən (Natively Rdaanssboox, ʁdaːnsspoːx), is an Anglic language spoken on Epsilon Eridani III in the year AD 4000, one of many languages that evolved from English. It is a synthetic language with a rich morphology of prefixes derived from English prepositions, articles, axillary verbs, modals, and other grammatical particles and constructions. =Setting= In 2389 several hundred thousand Americans and Canadians from around the Great Lakes region fled an increasingly totalitarian Terran Federation government to a nearby Earth-like planet that was as yet unsettled, Epsilon Eridani III, about 10 light-years from Earth. When the Federation collapsed in the early 2500's the infrastructure that allowed for interstellar travel collapsed, resulting in a period later generations would call a "dark age" reminiscent of the one following the fall of Rome. The various interstellar colonies, including E. Eridani III, which came to be called Eridanus, later Rdaans, were cut off from the Solar System and on their own. The various dialects of spoken English, which were already quite different from the written language, "Classical English", began thier divergence into separate languages. =Phonology= Consonants Fortis Plosives: /pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ/ p t k q Lenis Plosives: /p t k q ʔ/ b d g q ' Nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ny ng Affricates: /ʧʰ ʧ/ c j Unvoiced Fricative: /f s ɕ ʃ x h/ f s sy sh x h Voiced Fricatives: /v z ʑ ʒ ʁ/ v z zy zh r Liquids: /ɫ ɬ r/ l lh rr Semivowels: /j w/ y w Vowels Front: /e e: i i:/ e ee i ii Mid: /a: ɐ/ aa a Back: /o o: u u:/ o oo u uu Diphthongs: /ai au ei eu oi ou iu/ ai au ei eu oi ou iu Allophony /k/ weakens to a voiced velar fricative ɣ between vowels. /d '/ are realized as a alveolar flap ɾ between vowels. /ɫ ʁ m n ɲ ŋ/ have syllabic allophones /a: ɐ e e: i i:/ are ʌ ɘ ɘ: ɯ ɯ: when adjacent to /q qʰ ʁ/ Phonotactics Syllable structure is ©©©V©©(t/s) Stress and Prosody Eridanian is a stress-timed language with primary stress located on the first syllable of the root. It also has a pitch accent derived from the elision of consonants. Some roots and morphemes are only distinguished by having a rising, falling, or level pitch. =Basic Grammar= Noun and Adjective Morphology Adjectives precede nouns. If a noun has no dependent adjectives the prepositional and article clitics attach to the noun. If the adjective is present the clitics attach to the adjective. Plural "-as" after siblants & affricates, "-s" elsewhere. Articles Definite ::"j-" before vowels ::"da-" before consonants Indefinite ::"a-"before consonants ::"n-" before vowels ::"som-/sm-" when plural -- sombwes/smornjas "some boys/some oranges" Adjectival Affixes Adjectival Affixes are derived from common English adjectives. "-lir-" ("Little") "-bix-" ("big") "-xiizh-" ("huge") Case Affixes Impersonal Ergative: boo- Impersonal Absolutive: no affix Personal Nominative: no affix Personal Accusative: ta- Genitive: ov- Dative: eto- Benefactive: foo- Prepositions en = in e' = at aan = on aaf = off fraa = from vit = with irrou = into aarrou = onto ooda = out of aafa =off of deen = than ndiu = until of = up doon = down baan = upon taud = toward viden = within vidoo' = without nyudo = by/near to Pronouns Personal Pronouns The Personal Pronouns inflect for case somewhat irregularly Agentive 1stS: ou 2ndS: jii 3rdSA: xei 3rdSI: i' 1stP: vei 2ndP: jau 3rdP: deu Patientive 1stS: mou 2ndS: jii 3rdSA: xem 3rdSI: i' 1stP: os 2ndP: jau 3rdP: dem Genitive 1stS: vmou 2ndS: vii 3rdSA: vem 3rdSI: vi' 1stP: vos 2ndP: vyau 3rdP: vem Dative 1stS: etmou 2ndS: eecii 3rdSA: tom 3rdSI: eto' 1stP: etwos 2ndP: ecau 3rdP: etom Benefactive 1stS: fomou 2ndS: fii 3rdSA: fom 3rdSI: fo' 1stP: fos 2ndP: fyau 3rdP: fom Other Pronouns Singilar/Plural "dis-/dees-" = Proximate Demonstrative "de'-/daus-" = Medial Demonstrative "dedeu-/dorreu-" = Distal Demonstrative "hou" = Animate Relative "wo'" = Inanimate Relative Verbal Morphology Eridanian verbs are agglutinative in structure and inflect for Tense, Aspect, Mood, Voice, and for the person and number or the subject and direct object. Some affixes have various forms marking for number and person, preserving their origin as English's axillary verbs and modal particles. Weak vs. Strong Verbs Eridanian retains many verbs that have the old Germanic vowel ablaut in the Simple Past form and in some cases the Perfect and Past Participle forms. Personal Endings The number and person of both the subject and direct object are marked on the verb with affixes derived from pronouns. The 3rd Person Singular distinguishes between animate and inanimate nouns. Active Indicative Subject/Object 1stS: ou(w)-/-mou 2ndS: ji(y)-/-(y)ii 3rdSA: xei(y)-/-(a)m 3rdSI: ti-/-(i)d 1stP: vei(y)-/-(o)s 2ndP: jau-/-(y)au 3rdP: dei-/-(a)m Reflexive Indicative 1stS: moosu- 2ndS: joosu- 3rdSA: xemsu- 3rdSI: itsu- 1stP: auso- 2ndP: alsu- 3rdP: deisu- Active Subjunctive Subject/Object 1stS: shwou(w)-/-mou 2ndS: shuji(y)-/-(y)ii 3rdSA: shwei(y)-/-(a)m 3rdSI: shti-/-(i)d 1stP: shvei(y)-/-(o)s 2ndP: shujau-/-(y)au 3rdP: shdei-/-(a)m Active Subjunctive 1stS: shmoosu- 2ndS: shujoosu- 3rdSA: shwemsu- 3rdSI: shwitsu- 1stP: shwauso- 2ndP: shwalsu- 3rdP: shdeisu- Tense Eridanian has 4 tenses, Present, Past, Future, and Conditional; but preserves many elements of the old Germanic Past/Non-Past system, especially in the conjugation of "to be" and the use of the affix "-gan" to mark the future tense, a relic of the modern spoken English periphrastic "be + gonna" Future construction (the old "will/shall" periphrastic Future is gone with little trace). --- Present ::ou-syaaf = I stop ::ou-bou = I buy Past ::ou-syaaf-t = I stopped ::ou-baa' = I bought Future ::ou-gan-syaaf = I will stop ::ou-gan-bou = I will buy Conditional ::ou-ku-syaaf = I could stop ::ou-ku-bou = I could buy Aspect Eridanian marks for Perfect and Progressive apects and retains the odd semantics of English's Present Progressive and Simple Present in active verbs. --- Progressive: ou-'m'-syaab'n' = I am stopp'ing' Perfect: ou-'v'-syaaf't' = I have stopp'ed' Perfecto-Progressive: e-'v'-'ben'-syaab'n' = I have been stopp'ing' Forms of the Progressive Affix When with the Perfect affix it is always "-van". Subjunctive forms in parentheses Non-Past/Past 1stS: -m-/-(w)os- (-vee-/-wr-) 2ndS: -r-/-wr- (-vee-/-wr-) 3rdS: -s-/-(w)os- (-vee-/-wr-) 1stP: -r-/-wr- (-vee-/-wr-) 2ndP: -r-/-wr- (-vee-/-wr-) 3rdP: -r-/-wr- (-vee-/-wr-) Forms of the Perfect Affix Non-Past: -v- Past: -d- Mood Eridanian has 6 moods, Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, Obligative and Interrogative. The old Germanic Subjunctive is preserved only in the verb "to be", the result of it stubbornly refusing to disappear in American English. A new Subjunctive formed from "should" becoming attached to the subject inflections. The Interrogative Mood is the result of interrogative pronouns fusing to the verb and occur in the place of the normal subject inflections. --- Subjunctive: shwou-wr-syaabn = If I were stopping Obligative: e-'gaan'-syaaf = I must stop/I got to stop Optative: e-'waan'-syaaf = "I want to stop/I would like to stop Interrogative (Animate): hou-s-syaabn = Who is stopping? Interrogative (Inanimate): wa'-s-syaabn = What is stopping? Imperative: syahf! = STOP! Voice Eridanian has 3 morphological voices, Active, Passive, and Reflexive. The Passive Voice is derived from the English "Be + Past Particple" Passive construction. The Reflexive Voice originated from the fusion of the reflexive pronouns onto the verb. --- Passive: e-'wos'-shaaf't' = "I was stopp'ed'" Reflexive: mousu-shaaf = "(I) stop myself" Infinitive, Gerund, and Participle forms Infinitive: t(a)-ROOT Gerund: ROOT-ang Present Participle: ROOT-n Past Participle: Identical to the Simple Past form of the verb except for a few strong verbs. =Dictionary= ... =Example text= The Lord's Prayer Faarr Vos en Habn, Neem Vii tis haalei. Rou Vii tigonkom, Viu Vii tigobedon, en davoud loox en Haben. Shujiheupos tasovoof tadadei, shujifogivos tasens vos, n veifogivam doos de' deisen twos. Shujiin'leedos irrou raagdoon, bo' shujiiseevos fraa eevu. Kos darou, pawo, n qoorei deur au Vii, fravo n avo. Amen. Category:Languages